Cruise Reports South of France/Italy Aug/Sep 2018

Hi Pinnacle,

Yup. That's the spot. Bloody awful.

Pretty outlook though but I would not recommend it at all especially if you are to the left alongside the breastwork. Everyone I saw come into that slot left very soon after. Also, the shore power was in 'shockingly' bad repair. It wouldn't keep our aircon running even though we were well below the max amp draw.

Sitting in Port Imperia now. Better/different but not great.. I find myself missing Beaulieu.

Cheers

James.
 
Hi All,

About time for an update.

Although the berth in Menton wasn't the best the town itself was quite cute, the beach was nice. Cost of the berth in Menton was about 55 Euro per night; dodgy power included. There was no chandler shop at the old port and getting to the other port is a bit of a hike.

We left Menton on the 14th and on advice from a marina neighbor we bypassed our planned stop at San Remo in favor of Imperia. The cruise up the coast was pleasant albeit that the coastline was rather drab and boring compared to the French side with Imperia being the first patch of interest along the coast that we could see. The port itself although somewhat unfinished had a vibrant feel. We were met by the port staff and given a very helpful briefing on what to do and see during our stay. We ended up braving the heat and climbed the hill looking for the cathedral we could see from the berth. After climbing through a labyrinth of old town alley ways including even an elevator ride, we completely missed the cathedral. We found an old convent and assumed that was what we could see. It wasn't until on the way down we made a left turn instead of a right turn and lo; the cathedral; which was closed for a private function. Ah well it was a nice walk and we found a great little place for lunch along the way.

We walked along a coastal pathway one evening (I think the locals call it the lovers walkway) and found a really nice seafood restaurant at the end called 'Nero di Seppia'. We asked for a table for two and the immediate response was "do you have a reservation"? When we said no we were ushered to the worst table. With some surprising quick thinking (given the enormous Campari I had just consumed) I said "can I make a reservation"? Ah yes was the reply and we were ushered to the best table :-) The other great restaurant was a Pizza place called L'oasi. The trap for first timers here is that there is no menu. They just bring pizza and pasta around and you say yes or no. Sort of like a sushi train. Cost of the berth was reasonable (approx 50 euro per night) as was the price of food and coffee etc. certainly when compared with France but again no chandler shop or supermarket to speak of.

The next stop was Loano although we stumbled upon a little island along the way called Isolotto Gallinara. We joined a bunch of other boats anchoring in about 20m of water. We were soon joined by at least a million little bait fish which appeared to be using the boat as protection from sea birds and predator fish. I hopped into the crystal clear water with my mask and snorkel and just sat there absolutely mesmerized by these fish schooling and surrounding me. As I continued to watch I could see regular attacks from squadrons of predator fish. It was a truly amazing sight.

Loano is an impressive port which appears to be favored as a wintering destination for super yachts. It was quite pricey at 75 euro per night but they had a deal where you pay for two nights but stay for three. So we did. Bonus. This was just as well as it took us a while to find the town of Loano. We had all but given up but finally found a really cute little place with a bunch of shops and cafes etc. Still no decent supermarket and the chandler shop in the port was pretty limited. Fuel price there was 1.61 euro per liter. Not the cheapest but certainly not the most expensive either.

Then onto Varazze arriving yesterday. This was always planned to be our staging point for the shipping ex Genoa however, on advice we are now moving the boat to Genoa Port Antico on Sunday. Anyway, Varazze is a nice port. New with good facilities, a pleasant outlook, a nice swimming beach and lots of new Azmuts and Absolute boats. A great place to get boat envy; but you pay for it. Varazze is hands down the most expensive port. I had booked months ago and was given a discount rate of 125 euros per night. Yup; I hate to think what the full rate is. Once again they have a deal; pay for three nights and stay for four. For that you get the free use of port bikes which has been handy but you have to return them by 6pm which is a bit limiting. There is a supermarket just behind the port but not a patch on the French supermarkets.

After a rush of blood to the head and having been informed that we have too much fuel on board for the shipping we're going to blast across to Portofino for the day for a 700 euro coffee... Should be fun.

Photos to follow. Slow internet. Sorry.

Cheers

James.
 
Last edited:
James,

I had a thought about your blocked drain. What about a long bit of curtain wire and use it like a pull through? The metal core will allow you to push with some force and yet it is flexible enough to go around bends. At 1-2€ a metre it has to be worth a go.

I will pull out my log book and see who I did that trip with in the A4K.

S
 
J,

enjoying v.much your brilliant thread clearly funded by the FrancoItalian Med Tourist Bureau (TM) :p

enjoy your 700 euro coffee and would really like to see a similar thread on your home ground!

Have a safe trip home (both you and the boat!)

cheers

V.
 
vas said:
would really like to see a similar thread on your home ground!
Click to expand...
Positively +1.

James, whoever suggested you to visit Porto Antico is a connoisseur, because it's pretty close to Genoa historical center, which is a hidden gem.
Nowhere near as widely known as other touristic towns in IT, like Venice, Rome or Florence for instance, but well worth visiting nonetheless.
Enjoy! :encouragement:
 
mcanderson said:
James,

I had a thought about your blocked drain. What about a long bit of curtain wire and use it like a pull through? The metal core will allow you to push with some force and yet it is flexible enough to go around bends. At 1-2€ a metre it has to be worth a go.

I will pull out my log book and see who I did that trip with in the A4K.

S
Click to expand...


Hi Shane,

Good idea but the weird thing is that the drain is not blocked... I managed to shove 4.8m of garden hose up from the collector box and blast water up into the window drain box. Plenty of water came in and it all drained out. No sign of debris. Here's the bizarre thing; as soon as I removed the garden hose the box wouldn't drain.

So... I inserted a thin tube down from the top (very difficult but..) and then attached a funnel to the tube. With the tube inserted approx 40cm the drain flowed just fine. With the tube withdrawn slightly; no drain.. There must be a rise in the drain just below the window box. I can't see it but it must be there. Either that or I have a boat that can defy the laws of physics; which is a distinct possibility ;-)..

Look forward to hearing who you flew with. It is a ridiculously small world ;-)

Cheers

James.
 
Some Pics. Hopefully...

1. View from berth in Menton.
2. Beach in Menton
3. Small boats (and us in the background) in Imperia
4. Loano
5. Portofino. Yes we did get there!
6. Italian flag in San Fruttuoso
7. Laser in San Fruttuoso
8. Water in San Fruttuoso.

So we had approx 600 litres too much fuel on board for the shipping. What to do? Blast across to Portofino of course!

It was a beautiful day with light winds and virtually no sea. We set our fairly early (for us) at the crack of mid-morning and after an hour at 22kts we were 200 litres lighter and in Portofino. A very cute little spot but they wanted 62 euros to berth for a couple of hours and there is no swimming. Lovely for sure and pleased we popped our noses in but not our scene.

Having seen the absolutely gorgeous bay of San Fruttuoso on the way in we decided that we wanted to spend the day there so headed back out around the corner. Turns out they wanted 50 euros for the day but hey, what were we going to do? We picked up the mooring (no anchoring allowed) and spent the day relaxing and swimming in one of the nicest places we had encountered on the trip. The water was glassy calm, warm, deep and incredibly clear with tons of small fish doing what small fish do. We swam, snorkeled and had a really nice last boating day in the Med. One to remember for sure.

Back in Varazze now contemplating the clean up tomorrow and then off to Port Antico on Sunday. I wish we had more time as the boat show is on in Genoa but for us it will be meetings and final pack up before heading home... Sad to be leaving but we've had a blast. Truly a trip of a lifetime.

More to follow re shipping and the eventual New Zealand leg(s) but that's all for now.

Cheers,

James.
 

Attachments

  • View from Menton Berth.JPG
    View from Menton Berth.JPG
    140.9 KB · Views: 7
  • Beach at Menton.JPG
    Beach at Menton.JPG
    107.8 KB · Views: 7
  • Imperia.JPG
    Imperia.JPG
    94.4 KB · Views: 7
  • San Fruttuoso.JPG
    San Fruttuoso.JPG
    154.4 KB · Views: 8
  • Portofino.JPG
    Portofino.JPG
    121.6 KB · Views: 8
  • Loano.JPG
    Loano.JPG
    122.1 KB · Views: 9
  • Laser in San Fruttuoso.JPG
    Laser in San Fruttuoso.JPG
    144.9 KB · Views: 8
  • Water in San Fruttuoso.JPG
    Water in San Fruttuoso.JPG
    147.9 KB · Views: 7
Last edited:
Part Two. The Eagle has landed!

Hi All,

After what seemed like an eternity (but was really only 6 weeks) of watching online as the MV Dolfijngracht meandered its way from Genoa to Auckland, Laser finally arrived!

All the stress and dramas of the shipping paled as I watched her go 'over the side'. At that point I was just hoping that if the worst was to happen that the loss would be quick and 'total'. Thankfully the skilled hands of the Sevenstar crew saw Laser get her first taste of southern hemisphere waters at around 2pm on the 23rd of November. Phew.

I could honestly write a novel about the shipping but for some reason it just doesn't seem important now...

We took Laser straight to the refuelling berth at Westhaven marina in Auckland city and took on ~1850 litres of what I'll bet is the cheapest diesel ever to enter Laser's tanks. Price was ~72 Euro cents per litre equivalent and that is for the premium stuff with all the high tech additives. Already my fuel consumption is ~10% lower...

We then spent what turned out to be two very wet and rainy days in Auckland city before heading the short distance north to Gulf Harbour where she will stay for the next couple of months. By a fluke of timing we happened upon the Dolfijngracht as she was leaving port so we were able to 'escort' her out. Very serendipitous imho.

We'll take the opportunity to cruise the Hauraki Gulf and possibly Bay of Islands this summer season before taking her on the long (700nm) transit south to her permanent home in Picton at the top of the South Island.

After the shipping, Laser was heavily stained with the Med red rain (thankfully we just missed the terrible October storm) and more than a couple of flakes of rusty Dolfijngracht. I must have scrubbed and washed her 3 or 4 times over the next few days but at least now she looks vaguely presentable.

I stayed on board for a few more days getting some odd jobs and squawks attended to. More to follow in January.

Cheers,

James.

Over the Side.jpg
Over the Side
IMG_8310.JPG
City of Sails
IMG_8317.JPG
Dolfijngracht Escort
 
James, a great story with a happy ending! That is a long way for a ship to go just to transport one boat to NZ, did she unload lots of boats or does it have a mixed cargo?
 
Well done.

My ex wife is from Nelson and that is a lovely part of the world - but the crossing to Wellington can get a little choppy!

I know the area quite well but was surprised it was 700 miles .... but looked it up and you are of course correct.

Have fun and a lovely second summer in one season.
 
Re: Part Two. The Eagle has landed!

J12345T said:
We'll take the opportunity to cruise the Hauraki Gulf and possibly Bay of Islands this summer season
Click to expand...
Excellent plan.
By heart, I'd say that it takes more than 100Nm to reach the Bay of Islands from Auckland, but it's a fantastic cruising area indeed, well worth the trip.
In the E coast of the N Island, myself and swmbo very much liked also the Kawau Bay, right along your route to Bay of Island.
And of course you can't miss the Waiheke Iskand, which we had the privilege to circumnavigate with SummerWine of this parish.
As we were told, the very wild Rakitu Island is also peculiar, but we didn't see it in that trip.

Btw, we'll come to NZ again this winter (i.e. this summer, for you guys down under!), and we are going to stay in the Coromandel Peninsula, among other places.
If by chance you are planning to be around there, give me a shout. It's always a pleasure to catch up with forumites around the globe!

Enjoy your fine vessel, in the meantime! :encouragement:
 
Re: Part Two. The Eagle has landed!

MapisM said:
......Btw, we'll come to NZ again this winter (i.e. this summer, for you guys down under!), and we are going to stay in the Coromandel Peninsula, among other places.
If by chance you are planning to be around there, give me a shout. It's always a pleasure to catch up with forumites around the globe!:
Click to expand...

PM me an itinerary P, would like to catch up somewhere?
Wooden Boats in Hobart again this season?!
 
Bouba said:
James, a great story with a happy ending! That is a long way for a ship to go just to transport one boat to NZ, did she unload lots of boats or does it have a mixed cargo?
Click to expand...

I was thinking a similar thing, where is she heading from NZ and which way did she come down, East or West?
 
Re: Part Two. The Eagle has landed!

AndieMac said:
PM me an itinerary P, would like to catch up somewhere?
Wooden Boats in Hobart again this season?!
Click to expand...
Hi C, yep, I was already thinking to send it to you as soon as S is done with the home exchanges finalization.
Another day at the Hobart WBS would be very nice indeed - I must admit I forgot that it's due for next year!
But this trip will be mostly dedicated to the southernmost part of NZ, which we only scratched during the previous trip.
And we will also spend some time in Japan, while on our way back.
So, I'm afraid that timewise (and also for the flights arrangement) it would be complicated to throw also Tas in the mix...
Anyhow, I'll keep in touch asap!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top